• Published on | Aug 28, 2005 | by FozzTexx

Sega/Gremlin Depthcharge

Finally moved and in our new place and getting back to work. Got in a Depthcharge that was supposed to be working and only have power supply issues. Hooked up the game board on the bench and guess what? It doesn't work, it's got a short from +5 to GND. Nice! Started looking all over to see if something got bent or there's a lump of something where there shouldn't be. Looking at the back I see someone had to make a huge modification to the original design. The ground trace running around the board had been designed hooked to a huge +5 trace and had to be cut apart at the factory. But on top of that someone had actually soldered huge wires to hook it back together? What the hell?! I undid the jumper and checked it again for a short and found it was good now. Fired it back up and just got a white screen. Started looking for overheating chips and discovered that our previous genius had also taken out one of the 2708s and installed it upside down. Turned it around the right way and let it cool and then tried the board again. Now I get a funky white line pattern but nothing else. The LED doesn't even come on. I have a feeling one or more of the 2708s is dead.

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